Though it might not seem like it, I do get my book reviews (start every morning with some book reviews) from places other than the Guardian.  It's just that the Guardian is quite good at reviewing books that I might like to read!

Though I probably don't want to read a biography of Alex Ferguson.

I'm not entirely sure who Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff, means as The New Machiavelli.  Is it supposed to be Blair?  I'm all confused.  Though it does seem likely his book doesn't come with the cringeworthy sex scenes that the old gaffer's did, so, small mercies and all that.

John Gray reviews Crisis and Recovery: Ethics, Economy and Justice, which was co-edited by Rowan Williams.  One of these characters is fast becoming one of my favourite astute writers on timely issues.  ++Rowan, it isn't you, please try harder!  No, not in The Times. 

I wanted to post Gray's magisterial article in the latest LRB last week, but we're on dial-up speed internet these days, and it wouldn't happen for me then.  So here it is now: Farewell Welfare State. 

Should we all decide to take to the streets, the new edition of Clive Bloom's Violent London: 2000 Years of Riots, Rebels and Revolts might come in handy.  'Civil disobedience' is one of my favourite odd expressions. 

If I could be bothered (it's Monday), I would nattily tie together civil disobedience with the Jacobite rebels who, didya know, inspired the first Ordinance Survey.  Rachel Hewitt has written a biography of the OS, which sounds fabulously fascinating.  (All this talk of mapping and stealth and military invasions is making me want to re-read one of my All-time Favourite academic articles, Thomas Richards' 'Archive and Utopia' [paywall]).  

Finally, The Butterfly Isles is the epic tale of one man's quest to see all 59 native British butterfly species in one summer.  It sounds Roger Deakin-esque. 

Apparently there's been some news over the weekend.  Something about two brothers and a fight for a red rosette, and it wasn't even on Emmerdale.  So, Ed Miliband ... new leader of the Labour party.  Jackie Ashley assesses the situation, and noted political commentator Archdruid Eileen (welcome back from Wessex) has more up-to-the-minute analysis. 

The other big news of the weekend was that he of the beard, Rowan Williams, gave an interview in the Times.  It's behind a paywall (and not the sort that involves signing up to a set of 52 weekly envelopes) so I've not seen it, therefore I don't know how the Times render into type the sound of parishioners being merrily thrown under a bus.  The Church Mouse suggests +Rowan can't hack the interview game, and Charlie Peer reckons a bit of being true to oneself wouldn't go amiss either.   

I'm not sure whether three lines for the new Labour leader and four lines for the AB of C is a sign of my judgment.

On a completely different note, guest Savage Mind Simone Abram looks at whether ownership is transformative, asking: 'Does owning more than one home make you an even more respectable citizen?'.  My answer is a definite yes, but I mean yes socially, rather than yes ethically.